Alito.

But they are all so close

It doesn't matter. It's still horrible.

I think he is probably the most extreme jurist on the bench. You can literally see the cray cray in his eyes.

n/t

Has an authoritarian streak a mile wide in him. He will always vote in favor of power, privilege, or punishment.

Should never have been given given Supreme Court position.

make this shite up.

n/t

As always, thanks Nader.

Was a deal struck?


rocktivity

1% loses nothing in giving us the ACA, gay marriage and eliminating three strikes.

have TPP.

but maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to keep pushing on TPP. The ISDS is arguable unconstitutional as well.

could be anything....fair wages, worker safety, regulation, etc. something will come up. wonder how the supremes will handle that. well i guess we know alito. anything that advances the human condition is a no with him.

ISDS overrides our judicial system.

They'll retain power only over that which doesn't impact business in any way, shape or form. If any law or regulation in any way impacts a corporation's potential profits, under TPP's version of ISDS, they can sue in a tribunal that can levy unlimited fines and seize public property to pay them.

The supreme court and our entire judicial system will be rendered irrelevent. They may just not appreciate being made redundant.

news story link. I'm the only person on my FB feed that would actually even skim a SCOTUS document.

It feels like so much has been lifted, and now we can really get rolling!!!!

Mexican families...where the due process is being unconstitutionally delayed due to lack of funding for courts and lawyers by the GOP blockade of Obama's funding request.

That is for starters off the top of my head, if the decision is interpreted broadly.

"No person...shall be derived of life, liberty or property without due process of law" are magical words.

It has been a shocking week.

the sunshine must be blinding. This is major.

Maybe they are listening to us, after all. K&R

Just an amazing week for the cause of freedom in America. Wow!

get a re-hearing on their sentence?

Last edited Fri Jun 26, 2015, 11:25 AM - Edit history (1)

subject to an increased or minimum sentence due to the finding over and above the punishment for the actual third crime, the "residual clause", then there has to be a new sentencing hearing, or the increased punishment over and above the first punishment for the crime is illegal.

That is the narrow interpretation.

not violent, but their felony conviction was because of the amount of drugs...

We just have a ton of folks in prison because of overzealous drug convictions. I'd love to see those reviewed.

struck down as being overly "vague", a death sentence for any law, means many cases will have to be resentenced, and this strikes at the heart of three strikes being used to increase sentences, the whole process being so vague as to violate due process rights.

From the article I linked to above (legitimate since I only posted three paragraphs there:

However, it's not going to happen. This court went out of it's way to make the Citizens United ruling, 5-4 are pure corporatists, they are 100% in favor. The only way it will even possibly change is if we get a Dem president and one of the traitors retires or dies. Even then, it'd take a Dem Senate to approve a progressive nominee. Of course, Congress could make it much better by requiring full disclosure, that would stop the secrecy. However, as long as Repugs control House and Senate, this will never happen. Even Dem control might not be sufficient if enough of them are DINOS.

the display of conservative victim mentality was astonishing.

He's basically saying that the court previously thought it was legal and is tired of dealing with these cases, so they threw it out. At least the beginning of the dissent is thoughtful.

ACA stays (though I've been a frequent critic), marriage equality and FINALLY striking down that damned 3 Strikes law which originated in my neck of the woods.

I can't figure out what to be more excited about! This country ain't dead yet, babies!

is beginning to come down.

How many years have us progressives waited for news like this and it's all coming down at once!

I am actually feeling a little pride about this country

drop. Flags coming down, hate called into question, SCOTUS making good decisions, the Pope talking about Climate Change, Rs with 30 candidates. What is going on here?

I only hope it continues.

My guess is, that most will be released. That third crime was often less than the first two, but because it was a felony, in some states it meant lifetime, or very long, like 25 years tacked on...Totally unfair, this one makes me happy too......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

as I think he's now deceased, he would have definitely been released, pronto.

is fairly clear from the decision, but the decision could be read more broadly as the entire underpinning for the enhanced sentence regime of the ACCA is struck down.

"The Armed Career Criminal Act is a federal variation of the "three strikes, you're out" laws that have been passed in several states — though in this case, it's closer to "four strikes." If someone has three violent felonies (or "serious" drug crimes) on his record, the law tacks an extra five years onto his fourth conviction.

The problem is what crimes count as "violent felonies" — since the law covers both state and federal crimes, and different states define violent crimes and felonies differently, it's not a term with a useful legal definition.

The law sets out some specific standards for "violent felonies." But it also included a catch-all, just in case: any crime that involves "conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another" gets counted as violent. That's the clause that the Supreme Court just struck down."

... and what have they done with the real Supreme court? They've been out of control with all these good decisions, lately...

they can afford to be somewhat magnanimous, I suppose...

Alito would be their spawn.

so does that mean people punished under the three strikes can get out now like say the husband of Tia Torres on Pit bull and Parolees who was put away because someone else under him was caught with an illegal drug. Yet because it was related to him it was his third strike.

We are evolving.

For very minor crimes. The very people police love to stop for a 'tail light out' excuse, or 'stop and search' and then get them on anything to jail them for life.

basis both of vagueness, as legally defined, and as a constitutional violation of the due process clause; I believe that the majority (6 to 3) used the Fifth Amendment to do so, thereby effecting the entirety of the legitimacy of the entire federal enhanced sentencing regime, and every other similar ones enacted by States.

More criminal law litigation to come regarding these constitutionally questionable enhanced sentencing regimes when legal beagles have done a full parsing.

I wonder if the 'for profit' local court and prisons can be done away with.

Similar to when Canada got rid of 'for profit' criminal justice system and prisons. Unconstitutional, against a prisoners basic civil rights.

was that instituted under Clinton or bush? I always get the two mixed up, but good for the SCOTUS. they seemed to be doing great work this week!!

...of the country.

This is HUGE!! And the RIGHT Decision under Due Process of the Law!

But, knowing the RW5 there are really bad decisions coming. I hope I am wrong about that.

First this affected federal prisoners not state. Second many will be re-sentenced but they were convicted of crimes which gave them long sentences anyway. Most of the posters have really misunderstood this case.

Probably cases will be filed Monday morning.

will this ruling be retroactive or only into the future?

As well as prospective.

Now, is Civil Forfeiture on the agenda ?

I wonder how it will for this guy?

Monterey County Judge Julie Culver said the prison sentence she handed down Tuesday was harsh, but said she believed it was necessary to protect the public from Horton’s predatory behavior.

Horton's now-estranged wife asked the court to impose the maximum sentence on behalf of herself and all of Horton’s past victims. The sentence was also enhanced under the Three Strikes Law.

Thank you for posting this!! I really appreciate it, this issue is very important to me.

Three strikes has gotten a lot of drug addicts thrown in jail for very long times.

No more people doing life for 3 convictions that are really minor.

And yes, Alito would likely have been at home with in Nazi Germany. When even Scalia doesn't dissent you know you have issues Mr. Alito.

Thanks for the thread, Fred Sanders.

but it damned well should.

that are thrilled about this. Judges don't like having their hands tied when it comes to sentencing and states are going broke incarcerating criminals that have life sentences because they've committed 3 nonviolent crimes. The private prison LOST!

Kind of amazing.